While the experimental rock duo Fred Cracklin were recording their second album, Anxiety Kinship, they were struggling with the placement of a 17 minute long song, eventually shelving it due to its length and instead shopping for a potential split to put it on. Around the same time, they caught a set on a joint show from First Children – two fifths of Landowner – who played a song that was similar in both tone and length. First Children had no plans for their behemoth of a song either, and through the sheer coincidence of timing and initialism, the FC split was born. The split feels very much like two sides of the same coin – two 16 minute tracks of free jazz and experimental noise that are as ambitious as they are riotous, and we’re honored to be hosting the premiere.
Fred Cracklin
Fred Cracklin’s portion of the album, titled “Left In The Lurch,” sounds like pure chaos to an untrained ear. The manic changes in volume, rhythm and prominent instrument allow “Lurch” to sound like a frantic nightmare, with the unpredictability and improvisation of one to boot. But there’s much more to this piece than just a free jazz experiment. Even though no idea in this song is settled on for more than a minute, the general tempo remains surprisingly patient, which makes the song feel half the length it really is. The volume and tonal shifts keep this piece exciting at every turn. The best example of this is around the ten minute mark when the rhythm is at its weakest, replaced by a dog whistle-like guitar freakout – and only 90 seconds later the song is back on tempo with a pummeling bass rhythm. Some other highlights include an early saxophone solo around the six minute mark and an absolutely roof-pounding rhythm at the 12 and a half minute mark, and even the inclusion of a musical saw! It’s impossible to tell how much of “Lurch” is scripted and how much is improvisation – which is a testament to the band’s eye for controlled chaos. “Lurch” exists on the fringes of bedlam for its whole runtime, but only strays into actual noise cautiously, allowing the semblances of rhythm and the bookended existential narration to give the song a much more sinister feel than pure noise would. The piece may prove to be a bit of an endurance test, but there’s a lot to pick apart and appreciate across “Left In The Lurch.”
First Children
In comparison to Fred Cracklin’s kinetic burst, First Children’s contribution “Grand Saline, June 23, 2014” feels like a proper piece, with three distinct movements. The first five minutes of the song are a punishingly slow complement to “Lurch,” centered around a dissonant guitar riff that comes within the first minute. There are also some vocals – sung tortuously and buried into the background of the song, making any attempts to decipher the lyrics futile. This only adds to the hellish and cryptic aura of the song’s first third. Right after the five-minute mark however, the tempo suddenly hurries like an unexpected anxiety attack. From there, the duo cycle through a number of different wild rhythms, from a guitar onslaught, to a pounding lower rhythm, and into a fun distorted melody that sounds like it came from a haunted circus. As unpredictable as this section is, it also largely maintains a central rhythm, and has the closest thing to any real structure seen on either end of this split. Just before the 11 minute mark, the song hits a climax with a wall of sound that is less carnivorous and more cathartic, the satisfying conclusion to a long musical journey. The song’s final minutes are the quietest across the album, with any proper melodies eschewed for an ominous drone and mysterious voices that sound more automated than human. In a way, the ending feels a cool down period after the 25 minutes of chaos that precede, but more than that it sounds like the final descent into a dark underworld with no happy endings. It’s a remarkably double-edged way to end the piece.
“FC Split” can be streamed below, and can also be purchased through a limited number of vinyl on Bandcamp. The bands plan to tour when it is safe to do so!